“Absolutely not.” Morak snorted out some air through their nostrils in utter rage. “I won’t allow such a thing to happen!” Their voice carried all across the camp in such a way that the rest of it began to die down with their own talks. “Such a thing sounds… it’s suspicious, why would I trust you with such a thing?”

Ares had only just asked whether he could help defend the pass, he hadn’t even started to discuss the basic plan. Ares reached up and then rubbed his forehead. “It is simple. I am not here to defend you or your people, I am here to make sure Torak and Rori do not die. They came here as ambassadors, to speak to you about a potential alliance, perhaps even more. I don’t want them hurt, and considering I intend to have them remain with the rest of the civilians, if it so pleases you, if I allow even a single enemy soldier to appear before them, then I have failed my duty.”

“We do not need your help. We are capable enough to defend our land, you outsiders can remain in the camp.”

“You would trust me among your civilians but not to defend them?”

“It is not just a matter of trust, it is a matter of hospitality.” Morak snapped. “If I were to allow you to fight and bleed for us, then it would bring a great shame upon my people.”

Ares thought about if for a moment. “Would you bleed for me?”

“It is my duty as the host to do such a thing.”

“I bleed for those who bleed for me. These are the words every Rivean keep to heart, if their King does not live by them, then how can I expect them to do such a thing?” Ares asked as he placed his hands on his knees. He had sat opposite Morak where he had sat previously.

“I cannot allow it.”

“It’s not a question of whether you allow it or not, I will do it. However, I would like to speak of you on the matter of protecting your people, and my own pair, one of whom is your father. So I’ll ask you this, horn Morak. Will you continue to act like a child, or shall I start to treat you with the level of respect for one of your position.” Ares asked as he rubbed his forehead.

Morak narrowed their eyes and then stood up. “We do not need your help.”

“Very well.” Ares stood up as well and the oxfolk nearby began to stand at attention, ready to grab their weapons in the aid of their horn.

Torak clapped their hands together. “It seems as though talks have broken down. Would you like for me to mediate between the two of you?” Torak asked with a smile on their face, trying to stifle a chuckle.

Ares turned red hot with embarrassment and then wiped his face with his hand and sighed. “I’m sorry. It seems as though I became quite heated, I’m quite an embarrassment of a Rivean.” Ares let out a long sigh.

“I will listen to Ares’ words and then relay them back to you then.” Torak said as they stood up and then began to lead Ares away. “Are you alright?” Torak whispered.

“It’s just rather annoying that I’m trying to help and your son is denying my help. I’m trying to reduce how many of our warriors die, and he seems far more interested in pride.”

“He’s only just become a horn, he needs to show the others that he is fit to lead. There are still some that are hoping to claim the title for themselves. Usually if a warrior is unfit to be a horn, they can be challenged for their title. Such a thing occurs many times during the beginning of one’s title, but as the years pass by, they become near non-existent. After my third year, none challenged me.”

Ares bowed his head and then rubbed the back of his neck. “Damn. I wish I had known that, I would have been a little less sharp with my words. Or I suppose, blunt?” Ares chuckled. “Well… I guess I’ll let you know my plan. When you had left to this place, I had taken quite a few of our crafters to create a fort at the base of the mountain.”

“A fort?”

“It’s a building of some kind that makes it difficult for attackers to beat you. It is not unheard of for a man with a forth to be outnumbered by a hundred enemies and still manage victory.”

“A fort can do such a thing?”

“I’ll ask you this. Would you rather fight from the top of a hill, or at the bottom of a valley?”

“The top of the hill. We can rain arrows on the enemy.”

“Exactly. Yet imagine this. If you were on top of the hill, and between you and the enemy was about ten walls. Then you could fire on the enemy from the third wall and they could not reach you, and when they broke through the first wall, you can go to the wall behind you and continue such a thing. You are able to do this at least five times, can you imagine what would happen to the morale of an enemy army?”

Torak stared at Ares with disbelief. “You are a terrifying man.”

“I’ve been told.” Ares chuckled. “I would do many terrible things if it meant my people were safe.”

“You are saying you could do such a thing with this area?”

“I can.”

Torak paused for a moment and then looked out to Morak. “I will have a word with my son.”

“I’m not done yet.”

“If you are able to show us what you wish to do, then there is no need for words.”

“Actions speak louder than words.”

Torak paused and narrowed their eyes before bowing their head. Ares nodded in return to allow Torak to speak with their son. Ares waited, whistling to himself.

Morak approached warily. “I heard that you have something you wish to show me?”

“Yes I do. First, I wish to say I am sorry for losing my temper. I have shown you a lack of respect, and I hope that you can forgive me of such a thing.”

“My father says that you wish to show me something important, if this isn’t a waste of my time, then I will forgive you.”

“Alright. I will need your permission to be able to change the landscape of the area.”

Morak hissed and crossed their arms, but then Torak placed a hand on their back. Morak inhaled deeply.

“Will you be able to return it to it’s previous state.”

Ares thought about it for a second and then looked up. “I believe I can.”

Morak remained silent for some time, staring at Ares with a dark look. “Very well. I will not take kindly to such a breach of my trust.”

“Then I have need of a small aid. Please ask the oxfolk to move aside, and to allow me to make use of a hundred archers.”

“What is this for?”

“If you want me to show you something that will bring nightmares to anyone who wishes to attack your people, I will need at least these things.”

“Very well.”

Once everyone was in position, with a hundred archers behind Ares, he took a step forward and then began to terraform the area. He shifted earth and rock around the place to form a large number of semi circular walls with a gap appearing in the middle, enough for about two men to enter, and then expanding slightly with each layer to allow another man through. The last wall was about the size of two men, but before that it would easily allow sixteen human men to barrel through.

Each wall was at least two metres high, and due to the raised nature of the mountain path, the last wall was much closer to about six metres. From the fourth layer of wall onwards, each wall was connected one either side by a couple of paths. The last wall nearly melted into the mountain behind it.

“Archers, if you would please take position on these walls.” Ares motioned with a hand and then shifted the gaps so they were much larger to allow for them to move. The archers waited, looking to their horn, who nodded their head and then they moved.

“Could you ask the oxfolk to step aside on either side so I can demonstrate to you the terrifying might of my thought?”

Morak nodded and then everyone moved aside so that Ares could work.

“Torak, please stand beside me.” Ares asked and then Torak approached, crossing their arms as they stood beside. Torak waited patiently.

“Now I would like for each of you to shoot one arrow straight, but as far as you possibly can.” The archers then waited for Morak, and once they had been given the signal, they knocked their arrows and fired above.

Ares watched as a hundred arrows fell, but he shifted most of them away, only letting those that were going furthest and closest to continue. He then walked over to check on them, and then he walked so that he was between the group. Torak followed suit.

“Now, please, do so again. Fire three arrows as quickly as you can.” They waited for Morak, who waited.

Torak nodded towards their son and then Morak raised a hand, making a motion and the sound of a hundred arrows whistling through the air cut through the silence. Ares smiled as he shifted away most of the arrows, except those that were going too far aside, and those that would lean near the other arrows on each corner of the rectangle.

There were about seven or so volleys of multiple arrows, though none were quite so loud as the first set. “Good, well, that was fine. Now, I would rather you shoot your arrows when I give the command. I will ask you to knock, draw, and then fire. On fire, I wish for all of you to loosen your arrows. Do so when I give the command. Do not stop until I stop giving the command.”

The archers waited for Morak’s command, who bowed their head. Ares smiled.

“Knock!” The sound of a hundred oxfolk moving filled the air. “Draw!” A hundred bow strings then pulled back. “Fire!” Once more, the whistling of death appeared. Ares shifted the arrows away at the last moment, but only after whispering Torak’s name. Then repeated his words once all had fallen silent. It happened again, the movement of the oxfolk, the pulling back of the string, and then a hundred arrows carrying with them the whistling of death, then the whispering of Torak’s name before he shifted the arrows away. He continued this four more times, and then on the last time he did not say Torak’s name, instead shifting the arrows away. Torak raised his brows and his brow has filled with sweat.

Then Ares walked over to Morak, though threw a glance back towards Rori. Ares motioned a hand towards his Consul to have them wait for him where they were and then spoke to the horn. “Do you understand what I just did?” Ares asked.

“You have made it so that it will be difficult for the humans to come and attack us.”

“Not quite. You are right, but not wholly correctly.” Ares then motioned for Torak. “Torak, something happened right at the end, didn’t it?”

“Not that I recall.”

“I’ll ask you this. When I told them to loosen the arrows and they came to us, you did not worry, did you?”

“No, I did not. I had enough faith in you that I knew I was in no danger.”

“There was something I did that was a little different right at the end, do you recall?”

Torak nodded. “You did not whisper my name.”

“No, I didn’t. Did something happen when I did that?” Ares asked.

Torak thought about it for a moment. “Yes. Something did happen.”

“Did you feel, perhaps this time, something was going to change?”

“Yes.”

“Did it?”

“No.”

“You felt that you may have been in danger though, didn’t you?”

“… Yes.”

Ares reached up to his ear and then rubbed it. “This is why.” He then motioned for Rori. “It is not the just sight of the enemy, nor just the sight of the fort, nor is it just the sound of the arrows coming to slay them that will cause the humans to live a nightmare. It is all of them. I had, in some way, trained Torak to understand that the sound of my voice was comforting. Yet at the end, when I did not say his name, even Torak felt as though something was going to happen. I will ask you all this. What was more terrifying. When I first asked the archers to fire as quickly as they could, or was it the uniform sound of a hundred arrows flying at me in one go?”

Morak nodded. “It was when they fired at once.”

“Right. Even though more arrows could be fired in the same amount of time, the damage that it would do but be fairly similar, but the mind would be affected far more.”

Morak bowed his head.

“Now I’ll ask you this. Do you see the gaps within the walls? What do you think they are for?”

“They are for the enemy to funnel through one at a time.” Morak replied.

“Yes. Yet why is the second to last line so open?”

“Is that for our men?” Morak asked after a short pause.

“That’s right. I have made it so that about a dozen or so warriors can stand abreast and hold the position, surrounded by archers. With this, a hundred archers and a dozen men, one could hold the area against at least a thousand troops, I’d bet my life on it. In fact, when it comes to time to use such a technique, I will be my life on it.” Ares inhaled. “Marching Blades, salute the horn!”

Then the Marching Blades slapped their torsos and stamped their feet into the ground, all in unison.

“The sound of thirty six soldiers all moving together, does it not invoke a special feeling inside your allies, and another against your enemies?” Ares smiled. “It is these thirty six soldiers and myself that will become the shield for your people. I ask for as many archers that you could offer to me, so that I may hold this area against whatever humans come.”

Morak stared at the walls and then to Ares. Then they looked at their father before returning their gaze back to Ares. They reached out their hand. “I would be honoured.”

“I, as well.” Ares then shook their arm. “I haven’t told you the entirety of the tactic as of yet. Would you be willing to take the rest of the army up to the top of the mountain in case they find another way to attack your people?”

“There is no other way.”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be another way that we have yet to see, or if they don’t create one. I am a careful man, as much as I have told you that I will put my life on the line, I do so because I have faith in my words. I wish for you to remain with your people to make sure nothing happens to them, whether it’s from the humans or another force.”

Morak frowned. “I would like to be on the battlefield.”

“Then I ask for you to also offer an oxenblut to me. I would like for them to be in charge of a few orders that I have in mind. Their goal will be to shout out orders, not to fight. If you would entrust this to someone else, that’s fine, but I ask for someone that you trust completely, a large portion of the strategy focuses on such a thing.”

Morak remained silent for a moment but bowed their head.

“Great. I have a few more things I’ll need to do before the fighting begins.” Then Ares raised a hand and dropped a small bundle of drake leather. “From myself to you, take this as a gift.”

“A gift? We have no need for such a thing after you have offered so much to us.”

Ares narrowed his eyes and then rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh.” He said aloud. He looked to Morak once more. “Then can I ask for as many drums as you can spare?”